That Troublesome Girl
by Zabby Carnassial
Summary: Strange things have been happening on Vroengard. Murtagh is sent to investigate and discovers a secret, a girl and possibly Alagaesia's future. MurtaghxOC.
1. Chapter 1

Hiya everybody!

(Soz just watched the Simpson's Movie) Oh btw I go to a boarding school so I can

really only update once a week… at most but I'll do my best. Reviews will be loved,

cherished and fed cookies. Please tell me how to avoid making the main character a

Mary-Sue. I DESPISE Mary-Sues but knowing me I'll write one lol.

(Set after Eldest) Strange things have been happening on Vroengard. Murtagh is sent

by Galbatorix to discover the cause of the strange phenomena only to discover a

secret that the village across the shore from the mysterious island have been trying to

hide for three years… MurtaghxOC

Chapter 1: What is Calubacus's secret?

Galbatorix sat brooding on his black, marble throne contemplating ways to capture

the annoyingly elusive rider and his damned dragon. A nervous servant scuttled

apprehensively into the gloomy throne room. He bowed low and squeaked "Sire, a

request has been made that you send someone to investigate strange happenings on

Vroengard." Normally Galbatorix would have ignored the request and, depending on

his mood, broken the servant's neck at the same time… but… "_Vroengard, maybe _

_something is stirring on that cursed island… Shuriken!"_

A low voice filled his conscience _"Yes…Master" _The word master was scathing but

Galbatorix was too preoccupied to notice _"Do you think that something could be on _

_Vroengard?" _there was a pause _"possibly …" _the voice trailed off and that

extraordinarily helpful answer (not) had Galbatorix glaring in hatred at the curtain that

separated Shuriken from the rest of the world. Galbatorix sighed and

decided that it'd be too much of a risk not to check out the island. He glanced at the

fearful servant "Bring Murtagh to me. Tell him to bring Thorn."

Ten minutes later the Red Rider and his menacing dragon stood before Galbatorix.

Murtagh bowed "You called?" "Yes, the village of Calubacus has reported strange

happenings on Vroengard. Call at the village; find out if anyone knows anything,

explore the island and if you find anyone bring them to me." Murtagh bowed again, "I

shall go pack provisions." His dark (and oh so smexy) eyes glittered with excitement

at the thought of a week away from Uru'baen and its cruel king. He turned to Thorn as

they left for the kitchens "_Thank God, a break!" _Thorn chuckled "_Aye, Galbatorix _

_was driving me mental." _Soon everything was packed and Murtagh mounted Thorn

quickly and thought to him _"Let's go!"_ Thorn crouched and thrust himself up into the

air gouging the compacted soil beneath his feet as he pounded his huge wings. They

circled around Alagaesia's glittering capital city and Murtagh exclaimed _"how can _

_such a beautiful place house such evil?!" _Thorn said gently_ "you know as well as I do _

_that beauty is only skin deep… think about your father." _Murtagh frowned Thorn was

right, as usual, Morzan was as handsome as they came but his soul was twisted by the

hideous crimes he had committed. Murtagh's scar tingled only a monster could lay

open their own son's back in a violent rage. Thorn's voice broke through his troubled

thoughts _"don't dwell on it he's not around anymore."_ Murtagh sighed but could help

but smile at his dragon's frankness. He looked around at the rolling landscape and

though _"I love the moments where we are free."_

"_So do we all little one, so do we all."_

Hours later when the blazing sun reached its peak in the azure sky Murtagh and Thorn

landed in the little village closest to Vroengard Island. As he landed the soldier

responsible for sending messages to the king hurried up to him. The soldier bowed

low and started to speak "Most gracious, magnificent rider who had the goodness to

help this little villa-…" Murtagh interrupted him with a curt "that's lovely. Just make

sure that your soldiers don't disturb me." With that he told Thorn to wait there and set

off to find a partially sober villager to extract information from. (Emphasise on

_partially _sober. Drunks are uselessly chatty and sobers are too careful. )

The Drunken Donkey was a small and dingy little inn where the villagers could drown

their sorrows in a pint that would slowly and surely turn their livers into a black and

shrivelled blob. Murtagh scanned the room and his eyes alighted on a man whose

beard was turning a salt and pepper shade with a bald plate. He was tough looking and

wiry, trade marks of a seaman, but his clothes were those of a farmer. Murtagh pulled

up the hood of his cloak to cover his face and walked over. "Can I interest you in a

drink?" The probable ex-sailor looked delighted "What kind of man can turn down a

drink without dieing of shame! Come and sit down if you're getting me one."

Murtagh lowered himself onto the tattered barstool and asked "while we're having our

lovely little chat can I ask you something?"

"Fire away mate!" was the jovial reply. "How long have you been living here?"

"'bout 10 years why?"

"Then you wouldn't happen to know anything about strange happenings on

Vroengard?" At the mention of Vroengard the man paled and started jabbering on

about how he knew nothing about Vroengard or even why it existed in the first place.

Murtagh sighed "who's Sephy?" The man stared at him and whispered in a strangled

voice "how do you know about Sephy?"

"I read your mind. Now you have a choice either you tell me about this Sephy girl or I

rifle through your memories and find out about her and at the same time absorb things

you probably don't want me to know." The man glanced shrewdly at him and sighed.

"Sephy is this village's secret about 10 years ago a little girl arrived at our village she

said that her name was Sephy and that urgals killed her mother and father. She never

talked about it after that or how she survived but she was always more… Ahh shit it's

hard to explain. She always acted older than the others and younger at the same

time. She would tear about acting like she was four then suddenly stop and come out

with something creepy. She was about 6 so the local healer, Anselma, took her in and

looked after her. She looked normal enough I guess but strange."

Murtagh frowned "What was she like?"

"She was a spitfire, brave but vicious, she'd gouge your eyes out if you got on her bad

side!" Here he broke of and chuckled "and a vocabulary that would put a sailor to

shame. Never heard a kid swear like that before! The trouble started when she was

about 10 the son of the local butcher knocked her over into a mud puddle and started

taunting her three years later she burnt down his house. When she was questioned

about it she claimed it was an accident and when no-one believed she was furious!

She tried to attack us! So that night when she was asleep we tied her up and left her

on the island. That was three years ago. We all thought she had died but recently

strange things have been happening. No boat can get within half a mile of Vroengard,

bursts of purple fire and… something huge flying over the island before settling and

landing again." Murtagh frowned as he puzzled over the strange tale. "Thank you."

He placed a copper on the table "here's for your drink." He walked back through the

bustling village to Thorn. Thorn growled_ "a strange tale indeed." _

"_Yes, she must have terrified them if they left her on the island."_

"_Aye, she should be around sixteen now, right?"_ Thorn chuckled _"I can't imagine _

_her being too happy with the villagers at the moment." _Murtagh laughed as well and

vaulted onto Thorn's back. _"Come on. I want to investigate this island now!"_

OOOOHHH!!! CLIFFY!!! Cliffy cliffy bang bang we hate you! I'll try to get chapter

2 up soon. 3 reviews first though! The person whose review helps my writing the

most gets a part in the story! First come first served sorta thing though. I love all of

you who even read this far. This applies to all chapters if you spot something un-

naturally sueish tell me so I can stomp it into the ground. ADIOS AMIGOS!


	2. Chapter 2

HELLO PEOPLE!!! My fucking wireless system has become decapitated and so I

have to write this chapter on my laptop THEN save it onto a memory stick THEN

load it onto the main computer THEN upload it… Thank you for listening, rant over.

Sara as my first reviewer you have a (admittedly tiny) role. Thank you, you rock. Post

free for a beta (someone who goes over chapters, corrects them, destroys sue-ish

tendencies and generally saves us mortals from certain doom) your fee will be a

prominent role in the story (audience cheers) well on with the show .

Chapter 2

Unknowns to them as they where departing a young girl called Sara was watching

their every move. She muttered to herself "the Varden will find this very interesting"

and with a wolfish grin departed into the shadowy alley ways between the cottages.

Thorn and Murtagh departed the small village in a flurry of crimson wings and clouds

of dust. They swooped over the sparkling expanse of water that lay between

Calubacus and Vroengard. Thanks to Thorn's (uber-cool) speed they managed the two

mile distance in about a quarter of the time a boat would have taken (A/N irrelevant

point sozzy) and soon they saw the abandoned island of Vroengard. This once

magnificent isle that was home to the riders of old had long ago sparkled with the

magnificent buildings and monuments that had adorned it. But that was long ago the

gleaming towers were crumbling and decayed the ornaments stripped away by the

elements. Thorn grumbled _"this place smells of dragons…and dragon blood. It feels _

_horrible."_ And indeed it did the ruins seemed to be glaring down at them as though

they were disapproving the presence of intruders. Murtagh groaned _"If there is a girl _

_here she's going to be bloody difficult to find. Let's set up a camp I have a feeling that _

_this is going to take a few days."_

A couple of hours later Murtagh had set up a fairly decent shelter in a half intact room

of the old dragon nursery. Thorn had objected strongly to the location of the camp but

was told to shut up and that Murtagh was not moving camp. He had grudgingly

agreed after setting fire to an old tattered tapestry in his rage. Murtagh said after they

reconciled _"let's go get the lay of the island" _and together they set off to explore the

derelict place.

As they were walking around Thorn announced _"I smell water, a pond of some kind. _

_The inhabitants of the island must go there to drink. It will be a good place to hunt."_

He led the way and a small pond soon came into sight. Murtagh spotted a dusty,

neglected looking grave marker resting by the side of the green and rather scummy

looking pond. Thorn sniffed the water suspiciously. _"I stand corrected anything _

_drinking out of that pond would meet a slow and painful end, it smells like something _

_died in there." _Murtagh walked over to the gravestone and read out loud "Martha

Pennyweather, witch, RIP."

"_RIP?"_

"Rest in peace." A laugh rang out behind them "more like rot in pond, she was not a

popular lady." Murtagh and Thorn whipped around but no-one was there.

They scanned the boulder and ruin studded landscape and Murtagh cursed. There

were too many places to hide for him to spot anyone. He sent out a tendril of thought

and to his surprise he found he couldn't penetrate the mysterious person's mind. He

could sense their conscience but no thought or their location or anything. _"Thorn, _

_scout the surrounding area for people."_ Thorn leapt into the air and started slowly

and steadily circling the surrounding area whilst Murtagh started searching behind

boulders and in abandoned rooms for the source of the voice using his mind to find

hidden rooms and passages. Below them someone thought _"oh shit he has a dragon."_

About half an hour later Murtagh decided to halt the search and go eat at their camp.

Thorn landed beside him with a ground shaking thump _"I too am hungry." _They

trekked back through the annoyingly deserted island to Thorn's worst enemy the

dragon nursery. They passed through the doorway and sat down to eat (well Thorn lay

down but whatever). They had one small complication with this… all their food was

gone and Murtagh could swear he could hear a faint giggle. That was the final straw.

He took a deep breath to keep his (uber cool) self control but the thought that while he

was out searching Vroengard for this f-ing person they had stolen all his and Thorn's

provisions. He yelled "That's it! Sephy I know you're hiding somewhere on this tip.

Come out or I'll raze it to the ground!" Thorn sighed to himself _"why does hunger _

_always bring out his violent tendencies?"_

There was a shuffle and a girl stepped out from behind a ruined wall. She folded her

arms and glared at Murtagh "Alright stalker, I'm here. What the hell do you want?"

She felt two pairs of eyes scrutinizing her but ignored them choosing instead to

continue glaring at Murtagh. Murtagh quickly got over the shock and assessed how

dangerous she was going to be. Long brown hair that was tangled, matted and salt

crusted from ocean bathing and years of neglect, A long sleeved olive shirt with a

leather jacket both, much too small for her, revealing several inches of thin, bony

wrist and the outline of a couple of ribs stuck through the jacket. Her olive green

trousers were also to small revealing stick like legs. Overall he got the impression of a

dirty, malnourished girl. Her blue eyes glared at him throughout the inspection and he

was startled by a shout of "what you looking at perv?" He glared back at her and

smoothly and flatly announced "Oh nothing, I was just noticing what a scrawny

looking individual you are." He thought to Thorn _"Overall I'm getting the impression _

_that she's not very dangerous." _

_"Me too, but that doesn't explain the strange _

_occurrences." _Murtagh looked back at her and swore and ducked at the same time.

This normally strange behaviour was explained by the fact that Sephy had just thrown

a rock at his head. He decided that acting like nothing had happened would unsettle

her and was therefore the best course of action. He heard Thorn chuckling _"damn you."_

_"She threw a rock at your head how can I avoid laughing?"_

So he decided to question her instead. "You've lived here for about three years right?" after a suspicious glance she nodded "Yeah, why'd you want to know?" He paused how could he continue to ask questions without raising her already pretty high wariness?

He decided not to bother. "Can I have our food back?" She snorted "why would I give

you your food back that much food means I'm not going hungry for a while." Thorn

muttered to him_ "she has a point." _Murtagh stared at him like he was raving _"What? _

_I said she had a point. I never said it wasn't annoying that she has one."_ Murtagh

shook his head at the pointlessness of that statement. _"Not helping"_ there was a pause

"_shut up." _

Murtagh turned back to Sephy. "Well can we trade items for our food?" "No." He

growled under his breath. His growling was interrupted by Thorn who said to Mary

"_why can't we trade, little one?" _She answered with a simple "I only need food."

Thorn and Murtagh held a hasty conference _"Thorn, she doesn't seem surprised that _

_you can talk. It's like she's used to it!" _Thorn paused, thinking _"Yes and how can she _

_get food without any tools? I find it unlikely that the villagers gave her any or that any _

_to be found here are still in useable condition." _Murtagh suddenly gave an (oh so hot)

evil smirk _"I have a plan, you distract her." _Thorn gave an exasperated sigh. He

knew how often Murtagh's plans worked about 20 worked but with trouble and the other

80 failed completely as in they crashed into the ground and burst into flame.

HA HA HA HA!!! Another unbearably short chapter and a cliffy! Well howdya

like Sephy? As none Mary-sueish as possible is what I tried to achieve. Did I

succeed?

That's for you to decide! Review and tell me thank you! . I do appreciate the two

reviews I got. I wasn't 3 but meh it was close. I'll ask for four so I get three. It's… it's

BRILLIANT! Flawless plan! Until next time! ADIOS

P.S I'm going back to school tomorrow afternoon so I'll either work like a slave to

finish the next chapter or you have to wait until next Saturday afternoon.


	3. Chapter 3

Yo! I hope you all like the re-done chapters. My Betas Heny and Cat have gone

over them and announced them fit for public reading lol. I know it's been a while

since I last updated but there was an actual reason for this. Forgive me, FORGIVE

ME!!! Reviewers I love you give yourself a cookie and pretend it's from me! Here's

Chappy 3 for your enjoyment!

Chapter 3

Murtagh was still grinning away with a maniacal gleam in his eye, oblivious to

Thorn's hatred for all of Murtagh failures of plans when he whispered _"right you _

_Thorn will distract the bitch whilst I create an illusion of myself and while she's busy _

_talking to you I'll grab her from behind!" _Thorn glared at him and this time Murtagh

seemed to pick up on the doubt radiating off Thorn in tidal waves. He sighed _"This is_

_foolproof!"_

"_That's what you said last time! I'm still mentally scarred from the time you tried to_

_capture the spy that was hiding in the women's changing room!"_

"_Yeah but that time she was expecting it!"_

"_Fine, fine…"_

Thorn stood up and moved away from Murtagh and Sephy's attention immediately

focused on him and the skilfully placed Murtagh illusion whilst the real Murtagh crept

behind a cracked wall that shielded him from her view. Against his better judgement

Thorn began the pretty scary task of distracting a rather annoyed teenager that had

abandoned on an island by people and probably had a deep hatred of all things

intelligent… As he said rather scary. _"So little one why don't you need any tools? _

_Food must pretty hard to gather without them." _Mary's expression instantly changed

from someone who was very suspicious as to why there was a dragon on her island to

guarded and on alert. _"Murtagh she's hiding something!"_

"_I know…"_ Thorn turned back to the aforementioned teen _"Well aren't you going to _

_tell me?"_

"No." There was a growling noise as Thorn struggled to remain in control _"ripping an _

_informant to shreds is bad, ripping an informant to shreds is bad, ripping an _

_informant to shreds is bad…" _That was the phrase running through the mind of our

favourite little dragon! _"Why won't you tell us Sephy?" _Was Thorn's next inquiry.

Sephy pointed at Murtagh "because he is a prick and you are up to something…"

And of course she was right because just as she'd finished the sentence she was rugby

tackled from behind by (uber hot) Murtagh.

Approximately 3 minutes later a very grumpy Murtagh and if that's even possible an

even grumpier Sephy emerged from the fight. Sephy was tied up and bruised.

Murtagh had a scratch on his face but otherwise seemed unharmed. Thorn then

interrupted Murtagh's moment of glory by crowing _"one of your plans actually _

_worked! With no complications! It's a miracle!" _Murtagh had a rather sarcastic reply

in order but this monumental comment to be was interrupted by a thump from behind

him. Thorn stared at an area behind his rider for a while before murmuring _"I _

_take that back we have a monumental complication…"_ Sephy yelled at that same area

"I told you to stay out of it!" It was then that Murtagh, being the clever chappie that

he is, decided to look at that mysterious area. He spun around and found himself

looking into the eyes of a very pissed off dragon!

The dragon's purple hide glimmered in the sunlight shining like an amethyst studded

cloth and her eyes where a piercing violet _"untie my rider before I burn you to a _

_crisp."_ Murtagh replied "If I untie Sephy will you promise not to run away so we can

negotiate?" The purple dragon turned her head slightly in Sephy's direction and they

seemed to be holding a quick conference. _"It is agreed." _

"Say it in the ancient language." Again the purple dragon and Sephy had a quick

conference. _"My rider and I are don't know any of the ancient language. I am only _

_aware of it's existence by the ancestral dragon memories. My rider understands its _

_significance but can't speak any."_ Murtagh stared at them before sighing. _"Thorn?"_

"_I think we should give them a chance." _Murtagh had anticipated that response but

he frowned. Thorn was experiencing an emotion he had not discovered before. It was

small and faint, barely recognisable but still… he shrugged it was probably nothing.

He took out his hunting knife and sliced through Sephy's bonds. Sephy's grateful

reply to this gesture was to sock his in the face before bolting behind her dragon… but

true to her word she didn't leave.

Murtagh yelled for a bit about how unfair it was that he'd been punched for

_releasing _her… he shut up when he realised that everyone was laughing at him.

Thorn decided to talk for a now sulking Murtagh _"I think an introduction is in order."_

"_I am Chu'si. As you appear to know my rider is Sephy. Who are you?"_

"_I am Thorn. Murtagh the sulking idiot is my rider…" _This comment led to an

outbreak of arguing between Murtagh and Thorn. It went something like this…

"I'm not an idiot!"

"_I'm not the one sulking because they didn't anticipate that someone they tied up might retaliate when they're released."_

"You didn't realise either!"

"_Yes I did!"_

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Murtagh said this with a triumphant grin_ "It's funny watching you get hurt." _Now if they

hadn't been interrupted the fight would have continued for a while fortunately they were stopped by a rather blunt "Now if you're

_quite_ finished I want to know what your doing on my island." Murtagh continued glaring at Thorn for a bit before the statement sunk

in "Hey it's not your island!"

"I've lived here for three years I'm perfectly justified in calling it my island."

"_Again she has an annoying point."_ Like before Murtagh stared at Thorn like he was a loony… Thorn pointedly ignored him.

Shaking his head he turned back to Sephy "We are…"

"…_unwilling…" _(this helpful comment earned another glare form our hero)

"…servants of Galbatorix. We're here to escort you back to Uru' baen." Sephy narrowed her eyes at him and seemed to be

assessing the situation "What's in it for me?"

"Lot's of food (Sephy's eyes lit up at the prospect), Dragon Rider training and free board… indoors."

"Drawbacks?"

"Loss of freedom, possibility of torture."

"Sounds good let's go." Murtagh stared at her. "Loss of freedom and torture?"

"Free food and lots of it…"

Righty people I know Thorn and Chu'si didn't talk much but they will next chapter. Dad's making me get of the computer so I'll see ya'll later

_Review Responses:_

_James-Louise: _Thanks I try my best

_Eragon Peep: _Umm… No? grins

_Grace tempest: _oc is other character and ooc is out of character

_Sara: _Sozzy about the short chapters hopefully quick updates will make up for it!

_Original Material: _Will do!


	4. Chapter 4

YO PEOPLE!!!!!! I'm really scared…. We've started picking our GCSE choices

and I'm really worried that I'm picking the wrong thing. I'm probs going to do 9, 2

English, RE, maths, double science (2 GCSEs), French, ICT and geography. I'm sorta

thinking about being a computer game designer…. Does anyone know anything about

good choices? Anyway your probs all bored reading this so on with the story!

Chapter 4

Murtagh continued staring. He asked Thorn _"is she seriously prepared to give up her _

_freedom for food?"_

"_It looks like it…"_

"_We can't let her do that! Galbatorix will be unstoppable with two riders under his control!"_

"_I have an idea…"_

Thorn then turned and addressed Chu'si and Sephy _"We feel that allowing you to _

_serve Galbatorix would destroy Alagaesia. Therefore we have devised a strategy_

_that will aid both of us. We will return to Galbatorix saying that the phenomena was _

_nothing more than a rumour. You will hide away from Uru'baen and Murtagh and _

_I will visit on our flights and tutor you. We will bring food but we need to think of a _

_location where we can fly without being observed."_

Sephy considered this "What's in it for you" Murtagh blinked a bit "What do you

mean?"

"Idiot! I find it unlikely that someone would help me like that unless there was

something beneficial in it for them"

"… we have the satisfaction of defying Galbatorix." Chu'si broke in _"I feel that you _

_are telling the truth but how do you intend to keep us hidden from Galbatorix? You _

_may have_ some_ mind control, but Galbatorix is stronger…"_ She eyed them

disdainfully "…much_ stronger" _Thorn growled _"Do not insult my rider_ dragon"

"_Then insure that he does not insult my rider."_ Sephy thought that this would be an

appropriate moment to intervene "Well? How do you intend to keep us hidden?"

Murtagh and Thorn fell into a hasty conference.

Then there was a long pause and another finally Thorn slinked slowly around with the

facial expression of someone who had just been force fed dung _"We feel that with _

_the… aid of some_ _of Chu'si's energy we can keep the fact of your existence from _

_Galbatorix" _There was a long pause from the opposite side then… they both burst out

laughing. Sephy finally managed to gasp out at the perturbed boys who, may I add

have never seen the rather violent mood swings that girls can have especially when

they're sixteen with a deep hatred of certain members of the human race, "you've

only known us for a grand total of half an hour and you already need our help! So

much for the power of the trained rider!" Understandably Murtagh was rather

annoyed by this and the next thing Sephy knew was that she was hanging upside

down by her ankles with big red sword pointing at her. Now how shall I put this next

image in your mind… ah yes… Chu'si went mental… she was also suspended in mid

air.

After a series of arguments and apologies the party was seated around a fire that had

been set up in the dragon nursery. They had reached a diplomatic compromise:

No psychotic behaviour

No magic

No swearing

No stealing

No trying to kill Murtagh in his sleep

No trying to kill Sephy in her sleep

No laughing at any member of the party

These rules allowed a semblance of a structured debate to formed but at times Sephy's

'unusualness' shone through. Like the time she had to trapped underneath Chu'si to

stop her trying to kill Murtagh when he insinuated that she would find it difficult to

find way out of saying oaths in the Ancient language and still live in the palace. When

questioned about breaking the rules she pointed out there wasn't a rule that stopped

anyone trying to kill anyone else when they aren't asleep. After this Murtagh's thoughts went something like

"_Damn, she's smarter than she looks!" _At the end of the meeting two conclusions

were reached:

Sephy and Chu'si would go ahead with the plan

Murtagh and Sephy… did not like each other.

So guy how did you like it? I'm going skiing over the hols so there probably won't be

another chapter. This week

Heny: Thank you sweet little girl who loves pink and has pig tails

Cat: I did it! YAY ME!!


	5. Notice

Hey guys as you can probably tell this isn't a chapter but I have hit the wall known as

Hey guys as you can probably tell this isn't a chapter but I have hit the wall known as

'run out of motivation' it happen to me a lot. At this rate you might be waiting well

forever for a story so I'm passing on the torch. I need someone to finish the story for

me. If you'd like to finish it go to:

/topic/3566/5297649/1/

If you're Heny or Cat talk to me at school if you want to finish it. I'll be away for two

weeks so post a reply between then and now. Who I choose depends on the quality of

your work so having already written a story I can read will help your chances.

(I know that there will probably be about um... no one… wanting to finish the story

But just encase )

If you have just /topic/3566/5297649/1/ as your link add www. fanfiction. net

in front of it.


	6. I'm Back!

I'M STILL DOING IT

I'M STILL DOING IT!!

CHAPTER 5 UP NEXT WEEKEND!!


	7. Chapter 5

Hey people I had Chapter 5 and 6 typed up on my laptop which then decided that it wanted to break

Hey people I had Chapter 5 and 6 typed up on my laptop which then decided that it wanted to break. So this is Chapter 5 REWRITTEN for your sakes. I've hand written chapter 7 and 8 and am working out a system with Heny so that I can update on weekdays. Btw if you type in the name Heny onto a word document it tries to tell you that it should be Henry. (Take that you loser mwah ha ha)

Chapter 5

The next morning dawned bright and early with, surprisingly, no rain. For Murtagh

the day started of well. He was away from Uru'baen and the evil menace that lived

here was asleep. All was right with this morning. Then Chu'si gave him a task and his

day went horribly, horribly wrong.

He walked out of the dragon nursery after getting changed and greeted the dragons

that appeared to be engaged in meaningless conversation.

"Chu'si. Thorn."

"_Good morning, Murtagh."_

"_Hello moronic loser."_

To say Murtagh wasn't happy with Thorn was an understatement of epic proportions.

Chu'si interrupted the war of words with a skilful proposal, _"Murtagh why don't you _

_go wake Sephy up_. _She needs to have breakfast before the food gets cold."_

"Why don't you do it? She's less likely to stab you." There was a silence. And

another silence until… _"Fly Thorn! Escape while we still can!"_ The dragons departed

in a flurry of wings as they soared into the sky, before settling on the top of a nearby

cliff, presumably to watch. Murtagh made a hand gesture in their general direction

before shuddering and ducking back into the camp. They owed him. A lot. He

cautiously poked the still sleeping for into consciousness and a force similar to the

Devil unleashing the demons was awakened. It was not happy.

"YOU BLOODY IDIOT!" A demented scream of rage rang through the still air and

all birds in a half mile radius took to the air with fright. Sephy, it appeared, was not a

morning person.

Up on the cliff the purple dragon and the red dragon sat chuckling at their riders antics

but finally Chu'si, the compassionate one, reluctantly said_, "we probably should help _

_him, Sephy's contemplating homicide."_

"_And ruin the fun?"_

"_No that wouldn't do at all now, would it?"_

"_I couldn't agree more."_

Murtagh and Sephy sat opposite each other across the fire and for once they weren't

arguing or trying to kill each other and for Thorn and Chu'si that could only be a good

thing. However the sort of good vibes were coming to a close.

"Hey! Idiot!" Murtagh's head swivelled around in Sephy's direction, "yea-… shut

up."

"Loser."

"Loner"

"Moron." This general line of conversation was abruptly halted when Chu'si slammed

her tail down in between them. Since said tail was very big and studded with ivory spikes they decided that maybe they would stop. Just this once. Chu'si hissed, "_Sephy we need to talk now!"_

Sephy was dropped on the top of the cliff that Chu'si had spent some quality, mocking rider time with Thorn. She landed with a soft thump and she sat there glaring. Chu'si sighed dejectedly, _"Little one, why must you always pick a fight with Murtagh?"_

"Because he annoys me."

"_Why? I know you as well as you know yourself and I'm positive that you've never been this nasty to someone before."_

"I know, I know. I'm being a cow. He just annoys me."

"_That's not very mature now is it? You don't see me fighting with Thorn every two seconds do you?"_

"That's different. Your mind's like a thousand years old, if you were immature I'd be worried about you. Besides you've got a thing for Thorn."  
_"I do not! That's a scandalous lie!"_

"Uh-huh. Yep, I believe every word you just said"

At this latest jibe; Chu'si took to the air abandoning her rider at the top of a very tall cliff… which had about a hundred ways down it… if you were a goat… which she wasn't. So she was kind of stuck.

Sephy lumbered into the camp growling dragon obscenities before curling up into a ball in the corner and started fuming. Literally, little wisps of smoke curled upwards and disappeared into little cracks in the stone work. Murtagh asked cautiously, "where's Sephy?"

"_How the hell am I supposed to know?"_

"Umm, you went off carrying her in her claws?" Chu'si snarled threateningly and Thorn stiffened and glared at her. A period of silent communication seemed to pass through them since Thorn grumbled and closed him eyes. _"Fine, Sephy's on top of the big cliff over there." _She nodded towards the towering face of rock. _"go get her."_

"Why?"

"_Go. Get. Sephy. Before. I. Eat. You." _The sentence trailed of menacingly and Murtagh turned to Thorn for assistance. Thorn was to busy laughing to care.

Murtagh scowled as he walked the 200 metres toward the lump of rock. Strange mumbling drifted along behind him. "Stupid cliff, stupid dragons and stupid, moronic, mentally unstable girl." He reached the base of the gigantic pinnacle of stone and frowned in annoyance, "bloody, massive cliff." He gathered a disk of power underneath his feet and propelled himself upwards. He went slowly at first, the experience was disconcerting. He could see the top of the cliff looming ever closer, he could feel the wind beating his face but his feet still felt like they were firmly planted on the ground. As I said disconcerting.

After a while he landed on top of the cliff and was frowned "There's no need to glare at me, I'm the one who has to come get you."

"I'm glaring because I have a severe case of 'iwantyoutodie' syndrome. It can be fatal. No not to me."

"That's not very mature now is it?" Sephy huffed and stuck her nose in the air and huffed. Murtagh sighed "can we leave? As unimaginable as this may sound watching you trying to mentally kill me isn't very interesting."

"Well, excuse me Mr Magic-boy but I can't fly so how do you propose for that event to occur." She snapped. Murtagh thought for a second and groaned "I'm going to have to carry you." Sephy stared at him for a moment, "lovely, let me think about that for a second… no." Chu'si chipped in at this point (never underestimate the power to communicate long distance without a phone). _"You have no choice. I'm not coming to get you, Thorn isn't coming to get you and if Murtagh returns without you he will be repeatedly deposited on the cliff until he does." _Sephy considered this for a moment before sighing and standing up. "Fine. Let's just get this over with." She looked at Murtagh dubiously and he sighed in annoyance before striding over and sweeping her up bridal style and she gasped and then said coldly "that's unnecessary."

"I couldn't agree more. This way's only important if you want to survive the journey. Please feel free to choose another way." She pouted and looked pointedly away from him but as they approached the edge of the cliff and started descending, she groaned and buried her face in Murtagh's chest. "I can't watch." Murtagh looked at her incredulously before grinning "Your afraid of heights?" He laughed. "Shut up. You're a hell of a lot smaller than a dragon." Her face remained buried in his chest throughout the trip and strangely enough Murtagh liked it. Even more strangely, so did Sephy.

Down below Chu'si gave a quiet victory trumpet. Thorn congratulated her. _I salute your evil genius."_

"_Thank you!"_

So guys what ya think? you all owe me.

And also 2 pages of reviews I'm so happy you guys all get a biscuit and I'll start typing chapter 6. I know it's starting to get a bit repetitive but things really start to happen now! Wink, wink. Bu Bye. Se you in twenty minutes if you're lucky!


	8. Chapter 6

Okay this chapter is quite short because I don't really remember how it goes all that well but it is pivotal

Okay this chapter is quite short because I don't really remember how it goes all that well but it is pivotal. The story takes a spin as we head into it's realms of insanity.

Chapter 6

The next evening Chu'si announced that she and Thorn were going hunting on the

nearest island to replenish to replenish the food supply that was getting dangerously

low thanks to Sephy. They departed soon after that and for a while Murtagh and

Sephy just sat around the fire doing nothing. Then a thought struck Murtagh. "Hey, if

there is prey on the other islands why don't you go there with Chu'si to hunt?"

"Because we don't have a saddle and last time I tried bareback I ripped my thighs

open."

"Ouch."

"You have no idea." He was quiet for another moment. "Then why didn't she leave

you here and go hunting by herself?" A pair of blue eyes turned in his direction and

they were deadly serious, "Let's just say that I'm not the most dangerous thing out

there."

"Then why did she leave you here this time?" Sephy sighed. "She must assume that

you're capable of defending yourself and not malicious enough to let them get me."

"Makes sense." Once again silence reigned in the clearing.

The sun was starting to set and Thorn and Chu'si were still busy hunting. The golden

orb descended in the sky to meet the horizon turning the sky a dusky pink. Suddenly a

long low howl echoed through the air, shattering the calm and ripping through the

encampment. Sephy sighed "We should have known."

"Known what?"

"They always come out at twilight."

"WHO?!" Sephy shook her head silently and her tangled brown hair fell over her face

and she eventually nodded at the top of a little hill in front of them. Murtagh followed

the direction of her eyes and swore violently. Cresting the hill was a wolf pack!

Each wolf was as tall a horse and their red eyes glowed evilly in the fading light.

Despite their impressive size, however, they were thin and, unfortunately, quite

obviously ravenous. Murtagh swore again. "Shadow wolves!" He spat. Sephy stared

at him in surprise, "They're not just big wolves?" Murtagh shook his head, "No.

They're actually the souls of hideously evil men, worse than Galbatorix every one of

them. They not affected by magic and they can talk. Their hunting techniques are

different too. If they're attacking people they try to convince their prey to just give up.

To just let them kill them. Normally works as well, they can see peoples darkest

secrets and neither age nor sickness can touch them." His account was interrupted my

chilling laugh that came from the biggest of the wolves, the leader. He'd crept

forward whilst they were talking and spoke to them. "Ahh! Murtagh! What a pleasant

surprise. I had the honour of being an acquaintance of your father and I must say the

resemblance is striking." His smooth, low voice echoed around the clearing. "I have

high hopes of you joining our pack, I expect you to turn out just like him." Murtagh's

face was contorted in rage, his hands balled into fists. "The wolf eyed his reaction,

pleased. "Yes, just like Morzan." From beside him Murtagh heard Sephy gasp,

"Morzan?" Her voice was tinged with fear. Murtagh looked down. Of course, why

would she be any different? But to his surprise the wolf turned to face her, "Oh? Does

that scare you? Maybe he does know you from before. You remember before don't

you? Life with Daddy? The pain and the scars." He trailed off chuckling menacingly,

"Yes, the Foresworn always did know how to bring up children." Murtagh froze as

the wolf's words rang in his ears, _"the Foresworn always did know how to bring up _

_children; the Foresworn always did know how to bring up children." _Could it be?

Could it be that he was finally successful in his quest to find others like him? His

thoughts broke off as the wolf continued. "Why don't you come here Sephy? I can

make the nightmares go away. I can put a halt to those memories." His voice had

turned crooning, compelling and his eyes burned hypnotically. Sephy paused, her

expression… longing? "Re-really?" She stuttered entranced. The wolves crowded

together sensing a meal but the leader kept talking, "Of course, come to me Sephy.

Come to me!"

Thorn's voice screamed in Murtagh's head, _"Stop her you idiot!" _Murtagh blinked

and started just in time to see Sephy take an uncertain step forward. No! He had to

save his hope!


	9. Chapter 7

Okay people

Okay people. I am incredibly sorry about the crappy chapter. It was rushed and

unchecked. That was inexcusable writing on my part but I am seriously just trying to

catch up! should be smooth sailing from now on.

Chapter 7

Sephy's POV

I stumbled forward another step. Close. Closer towards the ravenous wolf pack. Their

teeth gleamed mercilessly, dagger-like and wicked. A small part of my brain had

recognised the danger and was screaming at me to stop…, but I didn't care. The

larger, stronger part of my mind was intrigued, captivated. An end to the nightmares?

An end to the memories? I'd do anything. My scars twinged uneasily, like they

always did when I thought of… him. All 700 of them. And then…I was flying. The

fog surrounding my brain thinned a little but it was not enough for me to register what

had happened. There was a sharp pain on the side of my head. Then everything went

black. The last thing I remembered was a dragon roaring.

'_I was small again. Running. Running. "Mustn't be late, mustn't be _

_late." The walls towered over me whispering encouragements. _

_"Almost there!" _

_"Run Sephy. Run!"_

_"Hurry!"_

_Suddenly he was there. "Father." I whispered. He loomed over me._

_"What did I tell you about being late?" _

_"I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry." I was whimpering by now. _

_Pain was coming I could feel it in the blood slithering away from_

_my face. He raised his hand, snarled, "You disgust me. No wonder_

_your mother died, she couldn't stand the sight of you." My vision _

_went blurry as they filled with tears and I soon felt the resounding_

_slap as he hit me. Blood trickled out of my mouth as I cried but _

_he was gone.'_

'_Welcome to my past. Welcome to my nightmare.'_

Sephy's eyelids flickered slightly as Murtagh pressed a cold wad of moss gently

against the tender bruise above her right ear and moments later, she whimpered

quietly. He looked up at Chu'si with a questioning glance. She shook her head and

said quietly, _"You're not hurting her. She can't feel a thing." _ Murtagh looked back at

Sephy before murmuring, "She's having a nightmare isn't she?" Chu'si gazed at him

for a moment, her expression unreadable, before nodding slowly. They turned back to

their silent vigil.

A few minutes later Thorn lumbered into the encampment. He gazed at Sephy for a

minute before asking, _"No change?"_

Chu'si shook her head, _"No."_

"_I got the last of those wolves, and I burned out the den encase there were any cubs."_

"_Good."_

"_I assume you took care of the Alpha?"_

Chu'si's expression hardened. _"I took care of the Alpha." _ Her head snapped back to

watching Sephy as her rider groaned again, but this time her eyes flashed open. She

let her eyes wander slowly around as she digested her surroundings, her expression

vacant, her eyes empty, and for a while she just lay there. After a few minutes a little

colour returned to her face and she weakly tried to sit up, but Murtagh laughed quietly

and gently pushed her back down. "You took quite a knock to the head." He said

softly, "Don't rush yourself, go back to sleep." Sephy lay back down and frowned

slightly in confusion at her situation. Her gazed roamed around a bit before settling on

Murtagh again and as she looked at him, her eyes seemed to focus a bit. "Water." She

managed to croak. After having a drink, she became more alert and she looked at

Murtagh again. "Why aren't I dead?"

Murtagh chuckled again, "Because I had to knock you over so you wouldn't commit

suicide. Hasn't anyone ever told you that you should be afraid of the big, bad wolf?"

Sephy also smiled but then a thought occurred to her and her brow furrowed in

concentration. "Why did you bother?" she asked in genuine confusion. This question

took Murtagh by surprise and he blinked. Chu'si looked at the pair for a moment

before coming to a decision. _"Thorn and I are going to the pool for a drink. The _

_wolves' blood tastes repulsive and I need to stretch my wings a bit."_

"_But I want to stay here." _Thorn was cut off when he saw Chu'si glaring at him and

comprehension dawned on his face. _"Ohh…I've changed my mind, I want a drink _

_too."_

When the two dragons were gone and out of thought shot Sephy turned back to

Murtagh.

"Well?"

"Why wouldn't I stop you getting eaten?"

Sephy frowned again. "Because you hate me."

"I don't hate you _that_ much." Murtagh smiled to show he was joking, but then,

abruptly his face turned serious, "And besides, I'm curious about something…" He

looked at Sephy from under his lashes, "Something that the wolf said."

Sephy tensed and her expression became fearful, wary. The she thought of something

and her expression became hopeful. "You want to ask me if you look like Morzan?"

Murtagh frowned. "Do I?" Sephy's relief was so obvious that he took pity on her for a

moment and let her gabble away for a moment. "No, not really. I mean you have the

same colour eyes, but you look more like your moth-… crap."

"You knew my mother?"

"No!" she squeaked.

"Then…? Well I suppose that it doesn't matter… for now anyway." He narrowed his

eyes at her and stressed the words 'for now'. He wasn't going to forget. "I actually

wanted to ask you about something else…" The scared look was back on her face and

Murtagh found himself hating her unknown father for putting that terror in her eyes.

"You know what I want to ask, don't you?" She nodded and a crystal-like tear over

spilled and fell to the ground as a glittering diamond. "You want to know about my

father." She whispered, "can't say I blame you, I'd want to know. It's horrible isn't it?

The stares, the whispers. People hiding their children as you walk by…"

Murtagh gulped, his mouth suddenly dry. "Your father was one of the foresworn,

wasn't he?" Again, after a long pause, she nodded slowly. "Who?"

"You'll wish you'd let the wolves get me if I told you."

"Let's make a deal. You don't hate me for your parents and I won't hate you for

yours. Okay?"

"Promise?" For some strange reason Murtagh felt the need to protect this strange,

fragile creature that Sephy had become. "Promos de ton per odioned." On a rash spur

of the moment decision the oath in the Ancient Language spilt from his tongue as he

whispered a promise more binding than life itself. Sephy obviously understood what

he had done because her face lit up in the first true smile that Murtagh had ever seen

her give, but suddenly the sunshine of her smile clouded over and became wary. "If

you've promised me something are you going to ask for a promise in return?"

Murtagh glared at her. "I'm insulted. There was I thinking I was being nice but no, in-

fact I am an evil genius who intends to take over the world by forcing binding

promises from innocent bystanders." The sarcasm in his voice was very, very

obvious. The expression on Murtagh's face changed from wary to confused, "Then

why did you do it?" He shrugged. "Thought it might make things easier for you." The

confused look was still there, "Why does it matter to you?" Murtagh had to think fast,

he'd rather be torn apart by wild hippos than admit that he wanted to make her feel

safe and happy again. Yes, wild hippos were preferable. "Umm, I want to know about

your life in Uru'baen." Sephy sighed and muttered, "Makes sense I suppose… Fine

I'll talk, but if you tell anyone who I am and I will happily rip you apart." Murtagh

believed her. "It's a long story," she added hopefully.

"I have time."

She scowled "Fine, fine, you win… geez." She started slowly. "My mother was

originally a servant who caught his eye and my father… was Carnalchain. When my

mother was alive Father was relatively civil to me, he expected me to be obedient and

since he never asked for to difficult a task to be performed for a while, I was content.

that all changed the night of my fourth birthday. Mother caught a terrible fever and

died shortly before dawn and my world shattered. After she was buried, the first thing

he did was brand me. He said it was so I'd never be able to hide. I'd always be

recognisable to him. Soon after that he decided that there was still some way that the

brand could escape his notice, that he wouldn't know it was me." Her voice was flat,

emotionless, like she was recounting someone else's tale. "He started carving patterns

into my skin. And of course the scars had to stay noticeable as well, encase they

actually healed, so he put a powder into the wounds so they would heal flat and silver.

The powder… stung a little. Once they'd healed, he started using me as a slave. I was

well educated; he didn't want me to embarrass him in public. 'Stupid. Ugly whores'

such as myself were inferior to him in every possible way and he made it his life's

work to ensure that it was proven in every possible way. Three years later, I ran away.

I hid in a wagon taking rotting fish out of the city. I knew that none of the guards

would want to come close enough to my hiding place for me to be discovered. I was

small and I managed to evade capture and that's how I ended up here. Abandoned by

my new village as yet another encounter with a government I really don't like looms

on the horizon." She smiled sadistically, "My life has been so much fun." And she

rolled up her sleeve revealing a shimmering veil of tiny raindrop shaped scars that

covered her entire arm above her elbow. She looked at Murtagh's expression, a

combination of fury and horror, and said quietly, "Why raindrops? Because all I've

ever done and ever would do to people would be to sadden their lives. I'd be their

own personal rain cloud." As she spoke another diamond tear splashed onto the

ground and disappeared. "I'm the rain." She murmured to herself. "I'm just like the

rain." And with that, she started to cry. Murtagh sat frozen in shock, all he could see

was the silver wreath around Sephy's arm. He finally asked flatly, "He scarred your

arm?" Sephy laughed bleakly through her tears, "He scarred everywhere." She lifted

her shirt a little to reveal the same pattern on her stomach and back and lifted her

trouser leg enough to show the same thing. He wrapped her arms around her legs in

she sat huddled in a little ball as she sobbed. She was only dimly aware of Murtagh's

arms around her as he held her together whilst she cried.


End file.
